Ranchi, April 11: Leaders of Jharkhand’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday demanded that the state government stop the on-going drive to demolish illegal houses that has left around 100,000 people homeless and triggered widespread protests.
“The demolition drive should be stopped with immediate effect. The state government should move the Jharkhand High Court requesting it to stop the demolition drive,” former state BJP president and ex-deputy chief minister Raghubar Das told IANS.
“If demolition is required, then the displaced people should be first rehabilitated,” he added.
Jharkhand Assembly Speaker and Ranchi BJP legislator C.P. Singh, voicing his unhappiness, said: “There was a ruling in the assembly that power and water supply will not be disconnected. Despite my ruling, power and water supply is being disconnected in Ranchi.”
More than 4,000 illegal structures have been demolished in the past three weeks on the directives of the Jharkhand High Court.
The Congress and other opposition parties have demanded that the affected people be rehabilitated first before their illegal houses are demolished. In the anti-demolition protests, one youth was killed last week in Ranchi in police firing.
—IANs